Lexar launches CFexpress 4.0 cards and more

[Canon Rumors]

Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to reveal its product lineup to be showcased at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, Nevada. With products ranging from its tried-and-true professional photography and videography portfolio to its robust gaming line-up and portable storage, the breadth of Lexar products will be on display.

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[koenkooi]

I really hope the next Canon bodies support CFe 4.0, it would alleviate buffering issues a lot!

 

[Nemorino]

I just changed my CFe for my R5 from Sony 1450 mb/s to Lexar 1700 mb/s.
This improved the buffer size from 38 to 42 RAW pictures. How big would it be if 3300mb/s would be possible?

 

[koenkooi]

I just changed my CFe for my R5 from Sony 1450 mb/s to Lexar 1700 mb/s.
This improved the buffer size from 38 to 42 RAW pictures. How big would it be if 3300mb/s would be possible?

The funny thing is that the R5 tops out at writing 400-450MByte/s, so the improvement you are seeing isn't from the 1450 to 1700 top write speed jump, but more likely from the (some handwaving ahead) 350 to 400 sustained write speed jump. The newer CFe cards tend to have the VPG400 certification, which guarantees a sustained write speed of at least 400MByte/s.

AFAIK the only CFe cameras that can use the full CFe bandwidth are the Nikon Z9 and Z8. And Nikon cameras allow you to keep shooting after the buffer has filled, at a rate that matches the card speed. Canon bodies will pause a long time to clear a large chunk of the buffer, take a bust of pictures, pause again, etc. So Nikon will give you a consistent framerate after the buffer has filled, Canon does the hurry-up-and-wait thing

So there's 3 things Canon will hopefully do in the R5II/R1:

1. Support CFe 4.0
2. Make the Digic fast enough to support the 3300MByte/s top speed of CFe 4.0 cards
3. Change the buffer overflow algorithm to be more like Nikon

 

[Nemorino]

so the improvement you are seeing isn't from the 1450 to 1700 top write speed jump, but more likely from the (some handwaving ahead) 350 to 400 sustained write speed jump

I know the difference of maximum and sustained speed, but Sony don't tell the sustained speed. Lexar does! The v400 logo is on the card and lists a sustained speed of 1600mb/s. OK, their own measurement.
Today I won't buy a card without sustained speed rating, just because of the lag of information.

 

[koenkooi]

I know the difference of maximum and sustained speed, but Sony don't tell the sustained speed. Lexar does! The v400 logo is on the card and lists a sustained speed of 1600mb/s. OK, their own measurement.
Today I won't buy a card without sustained speed rating, just because of the lag of information.

Same here, I was very happy with my Sony Tough card, it was as fast as the fastests cards available at the time, but after 3 years I noticed it wasn't actually 'tough' when bits of plastic broke off. The prograde gold listed a sustained speed of 850MByte/s, which was good enough for me, especially since it had a 40% discount

But I sold my R5 a few weeks ago in anticipation of a 2024Q2 R5II release, so the CFe cards are gathering dust right now

 

[Bob Howland]

But I sold my R5 a few weeks ago in anticipation of a 2024Q2 R5II release, so the CFe cards are gathering dust right now

I hope you have another camera that you can use while you're waiting.

 

[koenkooi]

I hope you have another camera that you can use while you're waiting.

Yes, the R8! For indoor family shots it is much better than the R5, the HF anti flicker works well with the LEDs in the house and the AF does a much better job at detecting my kids eyes.
But I do miss the 45MP, buffer and CFe speed of the R5, especially after discovering a kingfisher and a pair of harriers living within half a mile of where I live.